Connection
by Smrtypantz
Summary: Alfred and Arthur may not get along in real life, but once they start chatting online without knowing who the other is, they find themselves falling for their mysterious emailer…
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** A fic written for HERO-sandwich as a fill for the hetaliasunshine community on livejournal. enjoy :)

* * *

**Connection**

**Chapter 1**

The internet really is a funny thing. Just think about it for a moment. In your hands lies all the information you could ever want, ever need. In the blink of an eye, you can read about the local news in Siberia; download a song in another language that you can't understand, but you really love the beat; send a video message to a far off relative who hasn't seen your face in nearly fifteen years. You can do all these things and more, and yet people hardly ever give much thought to how valuable the internet really is.

I will admit that I used to be one of those people. I used to act indifferent to the internet, like any other normal person. I watched music videos, chatted with friends, researched topics for school projects, etc. To me, the World Wide Web was just an ordinary, common tool that I had had at my disposal since I was born. Never once had I given thought to how…life altering? Yes, that's the term. To how life altering it would be.

With the internet, you can be completely anonymous. No one will know who you really are, where you are from, what you look like, what you do…unless you decide to indulge their interests by giving out that information. And yet, you could just be lying. After all, on most websites, you are nothing more than a screen name with opinions. And perhaps this is what makes the internet so great. The fact that you have anonymity means you can't be judged in the slightest. It means that whatever you say will never be heard in the ears of someone you know in reality. And sometimes, just sometimes, a complete stranger will read what you have to say, actually lend a virtual ear to your feelings and emotions. For some reason, having the sympathy of a stranger is more meaningful than having the sympathy of someone who already "knows" you. I still do not know why this is.

I feel I am getting off topic. After all, anyone reading this is surely using the internet and is fully aware of what goes on in it. Then let me start off by introducing myself: my name is Arthur Kirkland, and I am here to tell you how the virtual world of the internet changed my reality for the better…

* * *

"Honestly, Peter, why do you always have to touch my things?!" Arthur yelled into the air, the shout being directed towards his little brother early that morning. School was starting in just a half hour, and Arthur couldn't find the report he did for earth science due that day. It had obviously been another prank pulled by the little twit, and Arthur's patience was wearing thin. Besides, it wasn't as if Arthur could actually _lose_ something in his bedroom. The entire area was spotless and completely organized. Well, everything apart from his closet, but he never stored his school items in there to begin with.

"Mother!" he yelled as he stormed out of his room and into the kitchen. However, when he came in he saw that the car keys were nowhere to be found, meaning that his parents had already headed off to work. It looked as if Arthur would be taking the bus again. He sighed to himself. It was only 7:30 am, and already the day had started off lousy.

At that moment, Peter made his appearance in the kitchen, holding his older brother's assignment in one hand and a lighter with the other. Arthur's eyes widened in shock. _This is not good…_

Peter had a devilish grin on his face as he held the lighter towards the paper. It was completely handwritten as the teacher wanted it, so there were no more copies except for the various rough drafts Arthur had stuffed into his knapsack.

"N-now Peter…" Arthur said as he took tentative steps toward his younger brother, arms outstretched to snatch the paper right out of the little monster's hands. "Let's not get hasty, shall we?"

Peter looked indignant, his thick eyebrows furrowed in stubbornness. "Only if you promise _not_ to ignore me during school! I'm in high school now, just like you!" Honestly, it was frustrating the way Arthur always pretended he was never there when he waved to him in the hallways or during lunch. It was getting down right annoying.

At this point, however, Arthur would agree to anything. "Yes, yes! Alright! Just give me my bloody assignment!" he yelled. Peter still seemed wary to hand the report back. Arthur twitched in annoyance when his younger brother did nothing but bring the lighter closer to his paper. "I'll even come over to your table during lunch today!" Peter seemed happy with this statement. He smiled, almost mockingly, and handed back his brother's homework.

Arthur snatched the paper right out of Peter's hands when the boy held it out to him. Hastily stowing it away in his knapsack, he turned and glared at his younger brother. "If you ever do that again, I swear I'll tell your teacher who _really_ let that frog into the classroom."

It was Peter's turn to be shocked. "W-wait, you really wouldn't do that, right?!"

"Oh yes, I would!" Arthur said with conviction. "I'll even say you were the one who left that thumbtack on her seat. I _am_ the Junior Class President, after all. She'd believe me."

Peter sighed in defeat. "You're a jerk," he said, sticking his tongue out after his older brother for added effect.

"It doesn't matter whether I'm a jerk or not at the moment. Right now, we're going to be late," Arthur said while grabbing his brother's arm and leading him towards the door. They had at most 2 minutes to catch the bus, and Arthur wasn't planning on having his perfect on-time record broken today.

On the other side of town, however, Alfred F. Jones was still snoring away peacefully, glasses askew. His blond hair was messily scattered over his forehead and pillow, and his mouth was so wide open that Matthew was tempted to drop an M&M in there. But this was no time to fool around.

Matthew practically ran over to his twin brother's side and shook him with all the force he could muster. "Come _on_, Alfred! We're going to be late!" he shouted in an attempt to wake Alfred up.

Alfred groaned and tried to roll over, but was stopped by Matthew's hands. "Please, Alfred! You have to get up!"

Alfred mumbled something under his breath, but nonetheless got up. He lifted himself into a sitting position while scratching the back of his head. He gave a loud yawn as his eyes tried to adjust to the sunlight pouring in their room. He felt a tug on the side of his arm and turned his head to see Matthew attempting to pull him out of the room.

He laughed at this. Matthew never was the strong one between the two twins. He got up and ruffled his brother's hair. "Jeez, Matt, no need to be so hasty," he teased as he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Matthew sighed. "Whatever, can we just _go_ now?"

"Alright, alright…" Alfred said, holding his hands up in mock defeat.

Both boys walked into the kitchen, Alfred grabbing a Poptart on the way out the door. They lived in an apartment building, and their apartment in particular was near the ground floor, so there was no need to run down countless flights of stairs or wait for an elevator. Their building didn't have an elevator anyway. They both rushed out and caught the bus just in time.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Matthew exclaimed as he clambered up the bus' steps. Alfred followed after his brother and sat down in the seat next to him. Across from the twins were two other students who attended the school, Arthur and Peter Kirkland.

Arthur was wearing his usual frown. He hated taking the bus. It would mean socializing with the other students. It wasn't as if he didn't like his classmates, but there were some that had a tendency to…grate on his nerves.

"Hey, eyebrows!" Alfred shouted and waved at the two brothers in front of him.

Alfred was one of those classmates.

Arthur grumbled some incoherent curses under his breath. _Just ignore him, Arthur, you can do it…_he thought to himself. Honestly, life had never been more annoying ever since he had transferred over to this school, Hetalia High. That guy was like an overflowing cup of pure optimism. His smile was always there, and was so blinding that Arthur sometimes saw stars after staring at it for too long. He was a typical blond haired, blue eyed person, and popular too. Well, at least Alfred _thought_ he was popular. It was true that everyone knew him. Now, whether or not they liked him was a different story.

* * *

All four boys had arrived to school right on time. Arthur and Matthew practically ran out once the bus' doors opened. Those two were extremely studious and wouldn't dare be caught in the hallway once the bell had rung.

Arthur, Alfred, and Matthew were all juniors, and even shared a few classes with each other. Of course, Arthur never realized he shared any classes with Matthew. The boy was always so quiet and, although he was smart, his class participation was severely lacking. Perhaps that was because the teacher never noticed Matthew either.

However, Arthur knew every class he shared with _Alfred_. The boy never shut up! He was always loud and boisterous during each subject. He would raise his hand to answer each time the teacher asked a question, and he was wrong practically all the time. _At least he tries_…Arthur thought to himself as he stared at the teenager across the other side of the room. Alfred was enthusiastically waving his hand in the air at the moment, only to let it drop once the teacher called on someone else. However, when it came to quietly taking notes, he would always sulk and groan in boredom. It was very bizarre to watch.

Arthur prided himself that he was able to find a balance in the classroom. Like Matthew, he was normally quiet and never dared interrupt a classmate (unless, of course, it was to yell the right answer at Alfred). He also managed to be talkative when it came to class discussions, and, of course, his answers were always correct and well thought out.

"Psst…Kiku…" Alfred whispered to the boy next to him. As quietly as he could, he passed a slip of paper over to the Japanese boy at his right while pretending to look at the blackboard. Kiku quietly slipped the paper away into his pocket. The boy gave a paper of his own in return, which Alfred snatched away not quite as silently as his friend. The papers had their email addresses written on them, to be used to chat or get homework assignments. Alfred smiled, noting that the teacher didn't notice the two passing notes at all.

About ten minutes later, the bell tolled for lunch. Alfred practically ran to the cafeteria. He desperately wanted to get his hands on one of those burgers they always served. They tasted horrible to everyone else, but hey, a burger was a burger.

After laying claim to his delicious lunch, Alfred took his usual seat by his brother Matthew and a few other fellow classmates which consisted of Francis (because Matthew liked hanging out with the guy for some reason), Gilbert, Antonio, and Lovino. Sometimes, Lovino's twin brother, Feliciano, would visit and drag Ludwig along with him. Alfred had fun when Feliciano came over because it was nice to know that there was another set of twins in the school. Every once in a while, or perhaps a better word is "rarely", Toris would come sit down next to Alfred. However, Toris usually had a hard time escaping his table from his (quite possessive) classmate, Ivan. Toris knew Ivan and Alfred weren't on the…best of terms, but that didn't stop the two of them from being great friends regardless.

Arthur, on the other hand, always sat next to Kiku. Sometimes Wang Yao would visit, usually followed by Im Yong Soo, which honestly got more annoying each time. It wasn't that Arthur didn't have a close circle of friends. He just didn't socialize as much as others his age would. He was acquainted with all the students, and even managed to hold pleasant conversations with quite a few. However, Arthur wasn't sure if he could refer to any of these people as "friends". The closest he had ever come to was Kiku, and yet they only spoke of how their day went, and never really took their friendship farther.

However, today Arthur was ready to take that first step into a stronger friendship. He had been dwelling on it for some time now, and he felt that today was the day when he would finally ask. That's right. He was going to request Kiku's email address!

"K-kiku…" Arthur stuttered out while looking in the other direction. Honestly, he wasn't used to situations such as these.

"Yes, Arthur-san?" the Japanese boy uttered politely. He looked over at the dirty blond with a questioning look on his face.

"Well…" Arthur began, "it's just that we've known each other for a while…and I was wondering if you w-would be so kind as to…as to…" Arthur seemed to swallowed his tongue at this point, seeing as how he couldn't get the rest of the words out. After a few short breaths, he finally managed to rush out, "give me your email address!"

Kiku had an unreadable expression on his face and Arthur was afraid he had done something wrong. Before he could try to explain himself, or pretend he was just kidding, Kiku took out a scrap of paper and began to scribble his email address with a pen.

Arthur smiled at this. Perhaps everyone was wrong about him. He _could_ socialize like the rest of them!

"Arthur!!!!" an annoying voice rang out throughout the lunch room. Arthur groaned once he recognized the voice. It was _Peter_.

His little brother was running over, Raivis following close behind. Arthur desperately tried to bury his head in his arms, but it was too late. Peter had spotted him. Short of breath, but still full of energy, Peter exclaimed, "You said you were going to our table for lunch today, jerk!" He pointed an accusatory finger at his older brother.

Arthur glared angrily while lowering his head closer to the table, whispering, "Not now, you git!"

From across the room, Alfred saw the entire situation. Two small freshmen were harassing Kiku and whoever else was at the table. Well, he certainly couldn't let his friend be bothered like that! Alfred stood up and dashed over to where the commotion was taking place. As he got closer, he saw that Kiku had been sitting with Arthur, the guy who he sometimes saw on the bus with the largest eyebrows on earth.

Alfred honestly had no opinion of the guy, other than that he was stuffy and boring. He always corrected his answers during class, and never once had Alfred seen him smile. He didn't know how someone could survive being angry all the time. And yet, it was almost funny the way Arthur presented himself as such. It made Alfred want to laugh since Arthur's behavior seemed so foolish.

He finally reached the table and pushed Peter out of the way. "These two bothering you, Kiku?" he asked with a smile, trying his best to seem heroic. Kiku merely shook his head in response.

"Hey, you!" Peter yelled at Alfred, rubbing a sore spot on his arm from where Alfred had shoved him. "You can't just hit people!"

Alfred looked confused for a second, but immediately smiled and said, "All heroes have to hit the villains to win!" He flashed a thumbs-up as if to prove his point.

Arthur didn't know who to be angry at more, at the childish, immature buffoon that had interrupted whatever peace had existed during his lunch with Kiku, or at Peter. "Will you two kindly leave us?!" he yelled at them, steam practically coming out of his ears.

Alfred was confused again. What was _with_ this guy? He was only here to save him! "Kiku, why don't you come and hang out with us?" he suggested, gesturing towards the other side of the cafeteria where his brother and other friends were sitting and chatting amicably. Kiku looked to his side, only to see Arthur trying not to fain hurt at what Alfred said.

"Perhaps another time, Alfred-san…" he answered, managing to avoid answering the question.

Alfred looked over to where Kiku's gaze had been for just a moment, and it suddenly dawned on him. "Arthur can come too!" he added to his previous statement.

It was Arthur's turn to respond now. "Absolutely not!" he shouted at the blue-eyed teen, arms crossed while sticking his nose into the air.

Alfred honestly found himself disliking this guy more and more. "Why not?!" he asked, throwing his hands into the air. Arthur took this as his opportunity to start ranting about how everyone in the school was an idiot. Peter, however, decided this was the best time to tackle Alfred from behind. After all, he didn't like being ignored.

Alfred had been shoved across the table, landing on his stomach right in front of Kiku. Peter kept pushing, which caused Alfred to topple over Kiku and land onto the cold, tile floor beneath them. In their tangle of limbs, a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Arthur saw it and snatched it away quickly, hoping no one saw Kiku's email address. It wasn't like he wanted people _knowing_ he had requested it just yet.

Peter ran away after that. He could get in trouble, especially since he had pushed down a junior. Alfred and Kiku shakily got up, Alfred laughing to himself while scratching the back of his head. "Didn't see that coming," he said while turning his head towards Kiku and Arthur.

Arthur glared in response. "Just leave us," he said with a tone of finality in his voice.

"Alright, alright," Alfred said, holding his hands up in mock defeat for the second time that day. "But just remember, you guys can hang out at my table whenever you want, ok?" He began to walk back towards his brother and the rest of the group at the table. Gilbert was smirking, which meant he had probably seen everything that had happened, even though the cafeteria was so noisy and crowded most of the time.

On the way back, Alfred couldn't help but feel something twang in his chest. Even if he had Kiku there, that Arthur boy just seemed so lonely…

* * *

Arthur couldn't wait to get home that day. It had been long and tedious, and he wanted nothing more than to try emailing a comrade for the first time. And not just for homework! He would make sure he got this socializing thing down.

Sitting before his laptop, he began to write his email.

_I never got the chance to give you my email address today at school, but I figure you can just save the email address from which I am sending you this email._

…_Is this too formal a voice? I've never really done this sort of thing before, you know. _

_Well, anyway, just email me back with how your day was or whatever else you're supposed to say in these things. _

_Oh, and by the way, those pictures of those plane models were simply fantastic. I'd really love to see them again. _

Satisfied with what he had written, Arthur typed in the email address given on the scrap of paper. "HEROsandwich aol . com?" Arthur muttered to himself. _Not the type of screen name I would expect from _Kiku_ of all people_…

Nevertheless, Arthur typed in the email address and sent it. He smiled to himself. That had almost been too easy.

Until, he realized a few hours later as he was preparing dinner, he had forgotten to end the email with "From Arthur" at the bottom. What if Kiku didn't realize it was him?! Arthur raced back to his bedroom and opened up his laptop. A resounding, "You've got mail!" filled the room and Arthur opened up the reply, heart beating furiously in his chest.

It read:

_Um, dude, I think you've got the wrong email address…_

Well.

That was unexpected.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** S-so many reviews so far o_O Thank you all!! No words can express my love~ I would like to clarify one thing. This fic was written in response to a prompt by HERO-sandwich (her anonymous name) on livejournal. Her idea, not mine. However, I took her prompt and wrote this fic. Here's chapter 2. Enjoy :)

* * *

**Connection**

**Chapter 2**

Arthur was unable to tear his face away from the first line in the email. Whomever he _had_ emailed surely thought he was a complete idiot! Arthur brought his hand up to cover his face in shame. Although, technically, no one could see him, and nor did this person even know who he was.

Peeping through the cracks between his fingers, he read the rest of the email.

_But hey, airplanes, huh? I like airplanes myself. They're freakin' awesome, especially the Tornado GR4. Even its name is awesome!_

_So, dude, how'd u get my email address neway? U go to Hetalia High or somethin'?_

_-HEROsandwich_

Arthur had two options. Option one consisted of him ignoring this email, deleting the address from his buddy list, and pretending it never happened. His second option consisted of actually emailing _back_.

And, even more shocking, was that Arthur was actually considering the second option.

So this wasn't Kiku, but obviously this person had good taste. The Tornado GR4 was from the Royal Air Force, after all, meaning that it was from England, his home before he had to move to the states after another one of his parents' business trips. And it might be nice to hold email conversations without the other person knowing who he actually was…He didn't have to act like a complete gentleman, and nor did he have to reserve his thoughts. He was, literally, quite free to write about whatever he pleased, and receive an answer in response to his thoughts. The only things he had to concern himself with were the mentioning of names and circumstances, lest this anonymous emailer found out who he really was through that information.

Therefore, Arthur had to keep the content of the emails at a distance. He could go on about his hobbies, interests, thoughts about life, etc. However, under no circumstances would he allow himself to talk about the events of his day. That would be absolutely too risky, and he didn't want this person finding out who he was (after all, it was shameful enough that he had emailed the wrong person).

Most importantly, however, was that he couldn't let these emails get too personal. He could talk to this person to relieve some stress, but under no circumstances could he let himself get too caught up in something as simple as an electronic pen pal.

After much deliberation, Arthur began to type a response.

_I'm terribly sorry about emailing you. I thought you were someone else (who will not be mentioned). _

_I'm glad to see, however, that you have taken a liking to the Tornado GR4. The Royal Air Force is truly something, is it not? I tend to collect models based off the airplanes, or at least I used to when I was young. Now, I barely have time to collect anything with the amount of schoolwork I receive. _

_Do you collect anything?_

_-HomesickPirate_

Arthur read and reread his email, frowning at the part where he signed the bottom with his screen name. It was honestly the first thing that had come to mind when he first arrived in the US, but now the email address seemed almost embarrassing. However, HEROsandwich _was_ one of the more ridiculous screen names he had ever heard of.

He also scanned his email to see if his voice was too formal, which it was. Arthur just wasn't used to writing or speaking in a voice that gave off anything less than a presence of superiority and politeness at the same time. However, he would have to be brave (seeing as how this person, whoever he was, might connect his speech with the way he wrote in the email).

Hands shaking, since his hands knew they were about to commit horrible, grammatical sins, he retyped his email.

_Totally sorry about emailing the wrong person. I thought you were this other guy (who I'm not gonna mention)_

_It's really cool, tho, that u like the Tornado GR4. The Royal Air Force is amazing! I used to collect model airplanes based off of them, but schools' been really rough, and I have so much work that I can't collect anything like I used to._

_Do you collect anything?_

_-HomesickPirate_

Arthur's eye was twitching as he read his new, poorly structured email. There was something so _off_ about it that he couldn't put his finger on. Scratch that. His finger could probably point out every single thing Arthur thought was wrong with this new email. Said finger was currently hovering above the button to send the email, but…he just couldn't do it.

No. He wouldn't.

He would send the grammatically correct, politely thought-out email because, damn it, that's just the kind of guy he was! (Unless he was angry, of course).

He un-did the poorly written email and now had the well-written one on the screen. Before his conscience could tell him otherwise, he clicked "send" in a flash.

There.

Well, that was easy.

With a satisfied expression, Arthur walked out of his room and back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

Arthur was hit with a rush of smoke as he opened the oven door. It looked like the food had burned…again. Well, Peter would just have to deal with it. Their parents were still away, and it's not like Peter could cook himself. Taking the roast from the oven, he set it on the table and called out for his younger brother.

Peter ran down in a hurry, almost eager to see what they would be having tonight. However, once he laid eyes on his older brother setting down a burnt object on the table, he tried to quietly tiptoe his way back upstairs.

"Oh no, you don't, young man!" Arthur shouted at Peter, who was still trying to back away. "Dinner is ready, and I expect you to eat it."

Peter grimaced when he glanced at what Arthur was pointing at. He grumpily sat himself down at the table. This happened practically all the time anyway, so he should've been used to it by now. A plate with a portion of the food was set before him. Peter picked up his fork and prodded the foreign substance, only to jolt in surprise when his "dinner" started to _move_. "Arthur, are you sure this, um, food, is, uh…dead?"

Arthur gave his younger brother a skeptical look. "Well of course it's dead, you twit!"

Peter took a glance at his dinner again. He took his finger and poked it. He practically screamed when it began to wiggle all by itself. Pushing his plate away, he was about to go off on a rant about how Arthur was being a jerk and trying to poison him, when he noticed that his older brother's attention was not towards dinner, but towards his bedroom door.

"Um, Arthur? Why are you looking at your door like that?"

Arthur almost jumped in surprise. He hadn't even realized that he had been starring in that direction. "I-I was just contemplating on what to cook tomorrow!" There, that would distract Peter from questioning him further.

"You mean you're going to cook _again?_ I thought your cooking was illegal in some states!"

"No, it is not illegal! Now shut up and eat your supper!" he yelled, though slightly distracted by his door once again. Arthur hoped he didn't seem too eager to receive another email…

* * *

When Alfred had gone home that day, he stole his brother's laptop (he didn't have one himself since they couldn't afford it) and began to surf the web. He enjoyed looking up funny videos, especially those where he could yell "epic fail!" at the screen. Matthew didn't use his laptop that often anyway, so Alfred took it upon himself to make use of the joy that came with the Internet.

One of those joys was emailing and IMing. Alfred had to admit, he was pretty popular with the students at Hetalia High. He liked being informed about how everyone was, but more importantly, he liked talking about _himself_. Call it selfish, egotistical, or whatever, but Alfred was the kind of guy who liked to receive a pat on the back for everything he did. He was a rising jock in the school's soccer team and his grades were finally improving. Besides, no one ever seemed to complain about listening to him, which could only mean they enjoyed it, right?

However, Alfred usually found himself only talking about meaningless things, like sports or cars or hobbies and whatever. Basically, he only talked about his school life. His home life on the other hand?

He would never speak about it. Not a chance.

Alfred opened up his email account and wasn't surprised to see about ten new items in his inbox. One, however, caught his eye. _HomesickPirate…?_ he thought to himself. _Who's that?_

Alfred opened up the email and read it quickly to himself. Well, whoever this was totally had the wrong email address. He never gave anyone pictures of plane models before, and he didn't know anyone who even liked airplanes at his school. However, Alfred wasn't just going to let the poor guy think he was emailing the right person (even though it would be hilarious). He typed in a response, talking about the things he normally spoke about with everybody.

A few hours later, however, he didn't expect a response. He still had the window to his email open while playing solitaire when he heard the infamous, "You've Got Mail!" ring through his ears. He took another glance at his inbox and was surprised to see that he actually got a response from that anonymous guy from before!

Well…he wasn't expecting that.

Alfred opened up the reply. Whoever this was, they spoke _way_ too formally. He knew quite a few people who spoke like that, though, so he wouldn't be able to find out just who this mysterious emailer was.

He reread the last line to himself. _Do you collect anything?_

Was this a question too personal to answer?

Alfred let this thought shuffle around in his mind. It wasn't as if he collected anything embarrassing. He liked to collect bottle caps, as corny as that sounds. They clicked nicely between his fingers, and it was always cool when someone got him a bottle cap from some foreign drink from another country.

But on the other hand, this question was directed at something totally non-school related, which Alfred usually never talked about.

And yet, there was no harm in it, right? He didn't even know the guy, and from the sound of the email, it seemed as if this guy didn't want to be found out either. As a matter of fact, Alfred was sure that if they continued to email each other, everything would be completely anonymous. He would just have to not mention names or incidents that happened at school, and he wouldn't be found out.

Practically everyone at school had _at least_ his email address, except for this person, apparently. Practically everyone at school knew him! But now…now he could talk freely without being known. Now, he might actually be able to talk more about himself and less about the person he was known to be at Hetalia High.

Alfred was nearly shocked when he realized that talking about something as simple as what he collected actually felt like a personal question to him. It made his cheeks color in response.

Alfred wasn't one to think too much into something, usually taking action based on impulse rather than well-thought out planning. But this time, things could actually be somewhat different. These emails could have meaning, these emails could be personal, and he could voice his thoughts without too harsh judgment.

It made him almost giddy at the thought.

Happily and quickly, Alfred typed in his response.

_I really like collecting bottle caps! It's awesome when I get a bottle cap from a soda from somewhere in China! That's, like, the other side of the entire planet! I think so, anyway_

_So, any siblings, dude? And can I call you dude, or are you actually a girl? Not trying to pry here, just wanna know for future reference. _

_I've got a brother. He's awesome, but so freakin' quiet that I barely notice he's there sometimes. He's really smart tho, and helpful. He can do math in his head! Sometimes I wish I were as smart as him, but no one can help being who they are, right?_

_-HEROsandwich_

Alfred reread his email to make sure he didn't sound too curious to know about the other person. He himself, however, was all too willing to delve into his personal life right now. If this pirate guy, whoever he was, responded, it would be much better than setting up a random blog that people would just comment and say stuff like, "wtf is this s**t? u suck, go die". This time, he could actually get someone's opinions on himself. Honest opinions. This person wouldn't see him for the popular jock he was at school, but maybe (for once) as an actual person.

His smile only grew wider when he pressed send.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** As you will see, the two of them are becoming attached to these emails in different ways. Arthur just thinks of it as a hobby, while Alfred is beginning to get personally attached to the emailing. Also, thank you so much for your lovely reviews :)

* * *

**Connection**

**Chapter 3**

The emailing persisted for many weeks, well into the middle of the first semester. They were aware that they were both male and the two spoke of their hobbies, interests, likes, dislikes, etc. The only things deemed "personal" that they had ever touched upon were their sibling rivalries.

Arthur found himself enjoying anonymously emailing more and more. It was good way to vent frustrations and bond over the things he enjoyed.

Alfred found himself enjoying anonymously emailing as well. He could talk and talk and talk about anything he wanted, and didn't feel the need to keep anything to himself.

In these emails, Arthur looked for a formal companionship, delving only into non-personal matters that peaked his interest.

In these emails, Alfred looked for a new friend, trying his hardest to make them personal, but apparently, this was not the angle this anonymous emailer wanted to go.

However, this was fine for Alfred. He didn't mind talking about the meaningless things he wrote in his emails. But not all of the emails were meaningless to him. Writing simple things like, "I'm using my brother's laptop, seeing as how we can't afford another one" was both personal, yet vague. It was almost as if he had let something "slip", as if by accident, when, in fact, it had been done purposely and with much thought behind it. Alfred was honestly interested to see this pirate guy's reactions to these small, subtle things he included in his various emails. It was as if with every small portion of his life that he let come loose in these emails, a small sense of relief washed over him. He never spoke about these kinds of things in school, especially around his group of friends.

To let one of his friends know that his home life sucked? To let them know that maybe their favorite soccer hero could hardly afford a decent meal every day?

Not. A. Chance.

But maybe, just _maybe_, these were the kinds of subjects he could slip into these emails every now and then.

After all, even heroes needed someone to talk to _once_ in a while…

* * *

Arthur actually rather enjoyed gym class. He was quite athletic despite his short stature. And today they were playing his favorite sport: football.

Well, at least that's what _he_ called it. Being in an American school, everyone else called the sport "soccer". It grated on his nerves whenever someone referred to the object he was now dribbling down the field as a "soccer ball", but as of right now, this was his least concern.

Shouts from all sides of the gymnasium were telling him to dribble faster, to reach the net and kick it past the goalie, break the tie and win for his team. He only had a few more paces to go, and then he would have the glory of winning the game all to himself!

It was for these reasons he enjoyed gym class. However, there was also a reason for why, sometimes, he _didn't_ enjoy attending PE.

"I'm catching up, Arthur!" the blond moron shouted from behind.

It was Alfred.

Yes, Alfred was in yet another one of his classes. Alfred was always one to steal the spotlight from anybody in that class and act like an arrogant jerk practically the entire time. But now, Arthur would actually have the spotlight for once. His own fifteen minutes of fame would soon be here, he only had to dribble just a little bit more…

Arthur stopped running, swung his leg back, and prepared to kick the ball straight into the net. What he didn't realize, however, was that the idiot American was still barreling towards him. Before he knew what was happening, he felt another body collide with his own.

"Whoa!" Alfred shouted as he tripped over his own two feet, arms outstretched, grabbing hold of whoever was in front of him at the time. He felt his fists grasp into fabric as he fell down while the person he had grabbed fell down with him. Landing with a hard _oomph!_, Alfred let go of the fabric he had been clutching to massage his aching head. Bringing his head up, he said, "Sorry dude" and offered a small smile as compensation.

When he really took a look at what he had done, however, he felt his cheeks redden. Apparently, the fabric he had clutched onto earlier had been Arthur's _pants_, which were now down about his ankles. Alfred knew he shouldn't laugh, he knew he shouldn't have been smiling at what he saw, but he just couldn't help it when he saw the type of underwear Arthur was wearing.

Boxers with pink unicorns.

It was _hilarious_.

"Dude, you wear pink unicorns?!" he practically shouted in between his breaths of laughter.

Arthur hadn't the foggiest idea of what he was talking about, bringing a hand to his own aching head, until he looked down to where Alfred was pointing. His underwear…it was completely exposed!

Blushing madly, Arthur quickly pulled his pants up before anyone else could see. However, it seemed as if luck was not on his side today. He looked around, only to notice that the entire class had seen the incident and were laughing amongst themselves. Arthur felt more blood rise into his cheeks as he scrambled back onto his feet. His eyes were wide with shock and humiliation.

One voice of laughter in particular made his head snap back to the ground. Alfred was still laughing to himself. "T-that's so cute! And for a guy like you to be wearing them!" he said, starting to calm himself after the initial wave of laughter began to die down.

Arthur could only try to glare at the snickering boy before him. He could feel hot tears stinging his eyes, due to his utter humiliation and Alfred's apparent amusement at the whole situation.

Finally gaining his voice, he snapped, "Why the bloody hell did you do that?!"

Alfred looked shocked at the sound of the shout. Still trying to hold back his chuckles, he said, "Sorry dude, it was an accident!" He held his hands out in front of him in mock defense.

Arthur had never felt more outraged, more embarrassed, more infuriated than he had ever been in his entire life. Behind him, the snickers of the rest of his classmates still travelled towards his ears. Not wanting anymore of this, Arthur kicked the football with as much force as he could muster straight at the goalie's head. It hit him straight on and the goalie actually fell _into_ the net himself. Breathing heavily, Arthur shouted, "There! I won!" and stormed out of the gymnasium.

He had gotten his fifteen minutes of fame, but not the fame he had hoped for…

* * *

Back home, Arthur sulked to himself. He was in his room, on his bed, head buried in his arms and his face buried into the pillow. He hadn't let himself cry during school, but those same white hot tears he had felt earlier were now given the chance to flow freely onto his pillow.

After gym, practically the entire school had heard of Arthur's underwear. Taunts surrounded him everywhere. A few students had even tried to pull down his pants in the hallway. His face had been red the entire day, and during lunch he had decided to eat in the lavatories instead of with Kiku. He was sure the Japanese boy would understand. Besides, Kiku probably wouldn't want to be seen with someone who had pink _unicorns_ on his boxers anyway.

Arthur tried to remain as silent as he could in his room. He didn't need Peter's insults either. He felt absolutely pathetic, humiliated, and just plain _angry_. He kept trying to convince himself that perhaps it hadn't been Alfred's fault…

But still, Alfred laughed. _Laughed_. At his humiliation! The image of Alfred's laughing stirred a sick feeling in his stomach.

He fisted his bed sheets into his hands. He was so _angry_, damn it! That was the absolute most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him! No longer would he be able to face a classmate in school without the student knowing what lied beneath his trousers. No longer would he be able to face a teacher without finding a glimpse of amusement behind their eyes. No longer would he be able to talk to Peter without him bringing up this incident in every conversation for as long as he lived.

And it was all Alfred's fault.

Arthur sat up suddenly and eyed his computer, glaring. He needed to vent somehow, and right now, his computer was looking awfully inviting. Pushing himself off the bed with force, eyes still red from his earlier fit of sorrow, he sat down before the monitor. He read through HEROsandwich's reply quickly before typing his rant.

_A cousin of mine just got bullied in another school. He's only in elementary school, but now he's become an absolute laughing stock among his classmates. _

_I've never been angrier in all my life. I want to strangle that boy for what he did to my cousin. He keeps going on about how he can never show his face in that school again. _

_There's no comforting him. The incident was much too embarrassing that I'm not even going to explain it here._

_Is it right for me to want to punish this bully? Some argue that what happened was "unintentional" but I call that bullshit. _

_What do you think? I've never retaliated to bullying before…are there any consequences?_

_-HomesickPirate_

_PS I've actually had bully problems before, but I was always on the receiving end…what about you?_

Arthur was still unsatisfied with what he had written, but he most certainly couldn't have spoken about the underwear incident. Then the anonymous emailer would know who he was, and probably never email back, or just taunt him like all the other students at Hetalia High.

He had actually lied when he said he'd been bullied before. The only bullying he had ever really gone through had been _today_, but Arthur felt he had to allude to the incident somehow. He clicked "send" before he lost the nerve to do so.

For the rest of the day, Arthur continued to stare towards his computer, awaiting the response.

* * *

Alfred didn't know what to make of the email he received later that day. Apparently, the pirate guy's little cousin was bullied and embarrassed at school. He felt his heart go out to the poor kid. Nobody deserved a bully in their life!

And yet, Alfred couldn't help but feel a little surprised at the email. It was the first time this pirate guy had ever spoken of anything that personal. It was weird for him to actually be reading about someone else's problems rather than his own. In actuality, it hadn't been that bad. He had been quite empathetic while reading the email, and for once, he wasn't thinking about himself.

This ended quite soon once Alfred's mind began to drift off to how heroic he would seem if he vanquished that bully. He was almost disappointed that there were no bullies at Hetalia High to fend off. He enjoyed being a hero, after all.

Alfred quickly typed in his response.

_Aw man, I'm really sorry to hear that. No one deserves to get bullied in school! If I were you, I'd be the hero for your cousin and punish that villain/bully! You'd get to be the hero for a day _and_ you'd teach that bully a thing or two about messing with innocent victims!_

_The thing about avenging people, however, is that you can feel guilty afterwards. Just know what is justly deserved, and you won't have to feel that way, promise! _

_I like to think of myself as a hero, defending my brother from perverts and bullies as well!_

_Good luck!_

_-HEROsandwich (emphasis on the HERO part)_

_PS I've never been bullied and I've never bullied myself, but I have faced them head on a few times!_

Alfred read his email with satisfaction. He warned HomesickPirate about feeling remorse only because, whenever he teased Matt, he would end up feeling guilty afterwards. But that had been long ago, and he no longer teased his twin, but protected him! The "perverts and bullies" he mentioned in the email were actually just Francis, but the pirate guy didn't need to know that.

* * *

"…you can feel guilty afterwards, huh?" Arthur muttered to himself as he reread the email for the fiftieth time that day. He felt a smile creep onto his face. This HEROsandwich person obviously sympathized with his humiliated state of being, and that was all the conviction he needed to know that he _would_ be getting back at Alfred. The only part that bugged him was the fact that he would feel guilty afterwards. But what could that bugger know? If anything, getting back at Alfred _would_ be "justly deserved".

He just needed a plan. He had to think of something utterly humiliating to do to Alfred. But who was close enough to the boy to actually have some dirt on him?

A bell rang in his head. He had a brother! Mark, or Michael, or whatever that boy's name was! That boy _had_ to know something about Alfred that no one else did, and he was going to get him to spill it all…


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** It's a day late, sorry ^^; (I fell asleep at woke up at 5 pm today...o_O)

* * *

**Connection**

**Chapter 4**

It turned out that the boy was actually in quite a few of his classes. It also turned out that his name was Matthew. Whenever Arthur had seen the boy before, he had mistaken him for Alfred. The only difference was the hair length, and the fact that a stuffed animal polar bear sometimes peeped out of the boy's knapsack.

Arthur managed to corner the boy after history class the next day.

"Excuse me!" he yelled to the shy blond. When Matthew didn't respond, Arthur resorted to grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. "Excuse me, Matthew," he said again. The boy's eyes widened in shock.

"Y-you know my n-name?" he asked, disbelief coating his voice.

"Of course! How could I not know your name when you're in so many of my classes?" he lied through his teeth. He hadn't figured out that boy's name until today by asking Francis of all people. Instead of dwelling on this fact, however, Arthur wanted to get straight to the point. "You're Alfred's brother, correct?" he asked a little eagerly.

"Y-yeah, but he's not free this period, so-"

"Do you like being his brother?" Arthur asked, seeing if he could cause Matthew to turn on Alfred and get him angry at his twin.

Matthew was bewildered at the question. "Um, I guess it's ok…"

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked, trying his best not to sound too desperate. "Isn't there anything that annoys you about him?"

"Well…I mean, he does tend to take the spotlight away most of the time…"

Bingo.

"I know what you mean, Matthew. You're such a hardworking student, but you're hardly ever recognized for it. Alfred can be so over-the-top that I'm surprised you haven't all but vanished yet."

Matthew flinched a little at Arthur's statement. Sure, there were many things he hated about his brother, but there were also good qualities about Alfred. Matthew knew that once he got riled up about his twin, however, he wouldn't be able to stop any insults he had from flowing right out of his mouth. He had to keep his temper in check now.

"Well, I mean, I don't exactly make my presence known, and it'd be too much to handle if everyone knew me, so-"

Arthur cut him off again. "You're right. Popularity is a burden. I mean, what if something embarrassing happened to you? Then everyone would know! And Alfred is in that position. If something embarrassing happens to him, soon everyone at school would know about it." Arthur eagerly awaited for Matthew's response, hoping something, anything, would slip.

The response wasn't all too thrilling. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"But then again, he's so _perfect_ that I suppose he couldn't have anything to be embarrassed about…" Arthur said, desperately trying to pry something out of the boy.

"H-he's not perfect!" Matthew disagreed, a small bubble of anger forming inside. "Far from it…"

"Oh really?" Arthur questioned. "I bet you can't name one thing about him that's even the slightest bit humiliating," he said with a slight challenge in his voice.

"W-well, you know, he's actually got this stuffed animal bunny he carries with him all the time! He's real shy about it, and would die if anyone found out, so-"

Arthur cut him off again with a smile while pretending to glance at his watch. "Well, thank you for your time, Mark! I've got to get to class now," he said, turning in the opposite direction. He could faintly hear the boy saying "It's Matthew" before he was completely out of earshot.

Matthew looked at the retreating back and sighed. So much for any recognition from that Arthur guy. The one time Arthur actually wanted to have a conversation with him, it was about Alfred. Alfred and his stupid popularity, stupid spotlight stealing personality, stupid stuffed animal bunny, stupid-

Wait.

Oh no.

He hadn't let that slip…had he?!

* * *

Arthur took careful note of Alfred's knapsack for the next few days. Each time the blond boy went to go put a book away or take something out, Arthur's eyes would immediately lock onto the bag to get even the smallest glimpse of a stuffed animal.

However, it wasn't working. Arthur couldn't see anything looking even remotely like a stuffed animal. Perhaps his brother had warned him that Arthur knew. Yet, that boy could be so timid…perhaps he hadn't told Alfred what Arthur knew. Arthur could only pray this was true.

By his third day of poor spying, he decided he would need to get a bit…hands on with the situation. All the boys in gym class were currently changing in the locker room before class started. The only reason none of them had spotted his unusual underwear before was because he tended to dress himself in the stalls. Now he had to dress in front of everyone else just to prove he didn't wear unicorn underwear anymore.

It was a small sacrifice. But at least it let him find out where Alfred's locker was. After every other boy had left the locker room, Arthur raced over to Alfred's locker, just to find his knapsack right underneath it. Perfect.

Unzipping the bag, Arthur let its contents spill to the ground. No luck. There wasn't a bunny crammed with all the books (or lack thereof) in Alfred's knapsack. Perhaps it was in another pocket. Arthur continued to unzip all the different crevices of the bag until he spotted something pink peeking out from inside of the pockets. Fishing out the pink object, Arthur pulled out a stuffed, pink bunny. It was very light and extremely worn out, perhaps because it was so old.

Arthur hastily stowed everything back into Alfred's bag and took the bunny. He slipped the bunny into his own bag, which he proceeded to stuff into his locker. He ran up the steps to the gymnasium so he wouldn't be late.

Gym had been tiring for both Arthur and Alfred. They were currently practicing weight training, and it always made their muscles sore afterwards. Alfred couldn't wait to take off his dirty uniform, slather on some deodorant, and wash up before his next class. Once he had performed these tasks, Alfred picked up his knapsack, ready to head on over to geometry…but something didn't feel right.

Alfred quickly set his bag down and opened it up. It looked like his stuff had been rifled through. He didn't see anything stolen, but he was so sure his bag had felt lighter than before. An uneasy feeling began to pool itself at the bottom of his stomach. Looking over both shoulders, Alfred carefully unzipped the pocket that held his precious bunny…

It wasn't there.

Alfred's face colored immediately. Someone had stolen his stuffed animal! But it wasn't like he could _tell_ someone about it! It was too embarrassing. Besides, the only person who even knew he had a stuffed animal was Matthew, and he didn't have gym with his brother. So then who did it? And why?

Quickly zipping his knapsack back up, he swung his bag over his shoulder and hurried to class. His face was still red, but he could blame that on the tough work out in gym. The only thing he would really need to keep in check were his eyes, which began to sting with the onslaught of tears that threatened to come down over his face. He had to keep his emotions in check, whether he missed his precious toy or not. He could search for it later, but as of right now, he had a reputation to keep up.

He was a hero. He was a jock. He wasn't a dorky kid who carried around a pink bunny with him all the time, no matter how much it meant to him.

He couldn't let everyone see that.

* * *

Alfred was jittery for his next few classes. All he wanted to do was get up and start searching for his stuffed animal. He had already checked the Lost and Found. He even asked his brother Matthew about it. His twin stuttered at first, but said he didn't know anything about it. Of course Alfred believed him. He was quick to trust, and if he couldn't trust Matthew with this, well then, who _could_ he trust?

He was still fidgeting in his seat when the teacher gave him an odd look. He forced another smile onto his face. Satisfied, the teacher turned her attention back to the blackboard. It was unusual for Alfred not to smile. He was normally a very optimistic person, and to see anything that even remotely resembled a frown was both confusing and scary.

Arthur, on the other side of the classroom, was jittery as well. And not for the same reasons. Arthur was jittery because he was feeling _giddy_. His plan had worked perfectly. He still had the pink bunny in his own knapsack. He formed a plan in his head as soon as he retrieved the stuffed animal, and he was going to put the plan into full force during lunch.

As soon as class ended, Alfred raced out of the room, intent on doing some more searching. This would cause him to be a little late to lunch, but he figured Matthew could figure out a good excuse for him.

Arthur sat next to Kiku as always. He kept glancing over to Alfred's table to see if he was there. Arthur kept thinking he saw Alfred, when in actuality, it was just his brother. It led to disappointment each time.

Kiku noticed Arthur's distraction. He didn't pry, however. He figured Arthur was still upset over the underwear incident, and if this was how Englishmen handled stress, then so be it.

Alfred sulked into the cafeteria ten minutes later. He had asked the coach if he had seen anyone going into the locker rooms during class, but the coach said he locked the doors as soon as the last person left. When Alfred asked who this person was, the coach couldn't recall. So Alfred had nowhere else to turn. It looked as if he wouldn't be getting his stuffed animal back…

"Oh Alfred, looking for this?"

Alfred's head immediately snapped up to see his pink bunny being held about 10 feet away. And the one who was holding it? None other than Arthur Kirkland.

Alfred could only stare, eyes wide with shock. It's not like he could actually let slip that the bunny was _his_. He was too keen on keeping it a secret to go up to Arthur and grab his bunny and run. His mouth opened, trying to form a coherent sentence, but all that came out was, "I-I…"

Arthur barely gave Alfred a chance to say anything before he continued. "I found this little fellow by your locker. It doesn't happen to be _yours_, does it?" He smirked at the dumbfounded expression Alfred was giving him. He waved the pink bunny in the air a little more so everyone could take a glance at it.

By now, practically the entire cafeteria was silent. Everyone's eyes were trained on the scene before them. Arthur wiggled the bunny in the air, but when Alfred continued to say nothing, he figured he would need to instigate just a bit more. The hand that was not preoccupied with holding the bunny was fondling another object in his pocket.

"So it's not yours?" he asked, his smirk growing wider. He just needed Alfred to say "no"…

Alfred seemed to have finally found his voice. With a shaky smile, he answered Arthur, "O-of course not! B-but you can give it to me! I'll f-find who owns the little bunny, o-or maybe you can give it to the lost and found-"

"Oh, it's not yours?" Arthur asked as he cut Alfred off. "Well then," he continued, "it wouldn't mean anything to you if I just…" His voice trailed off as he revealed what was hidden in his pocket.

Holding up a pair of scissors, Arthur brought the sharp object around the bunny's head. At this, Alfred's eyes widened even farther. He was trying to subtly shake his head back and forth, but this just made Arthur happier.

"I'll just get rid of this then," Arthur said as he closed the pair of scissors around the bunny's neck.

"N-no!" Alfred shouted, reaching a hand out as if he could rescue his bunny from that distance.

_Snip_

The bunny's head rolled to the floor in front of Arthur. "Oops," he said with a smirk, shrugging his arms at the same time.

Alfred's eyes were beginning to sting again. He gripped his bottom lip hard between his teeth to keep the tears from spilling. Tentatively, he walked over to his precious pink bunny and picked up the two pieces. Arthur was staring down at him, a sickening smile plastering his face. Alfred bit his bottom lip harder and practically sprinted out of the cafeteria, the two pieces of his pink bunny clutched to his chest near his heart.

* * *

Alfred left school after that. He just ran out of the doors and caught the next bus home. His parents could care less that he was skipping class. _He_ could care less he was skipping class. All that mattered was getting his precious stuffed animal back home before it could be torn into more pieces.

The entire cafeteria had seen. Everyone he knew, they all saw him. They all saw him tear up over a stupid pink bunny. They all saw that bastard smiling at his humiliation.

Alfred let a few tears fall as he leaned against the wall as he sat on his bed.

The one question that kept running through his head was _why_. Why would Arthur want to do this to him? Why would Arthur want to humiliate him in front of the entire school? It wasn't as if he had done anything to hi-

Oh.

So that was why.

Alfred lifted his head to stare blankly at the wall across from him, realization dawning. He knew why Arthur was mad. Arthur was mad because of what happened during gym. Arthur was getting his revenge. Revenge for Alfred's actions. Revenge for Alfred's insincere apologies. Revenge for Alfred's laughter at his humiliation.

Another ill feeling stirred in his stomach. He didn't feel much like a hero at all. Heroes don't laugh when people are upset. He should've done something to help Arthur, not laughed in his face.

At first, Alfred didn't think it was that big of a deal, but…maybe he deserved this.

He let his head fall and stared at his lap.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** S-so many reviews -blush- Thank you all so much, including the lovely people who alerted and favorited. I'm really glad you're all enjoying the story :)

* * *

**Connection**

**Chapter 5**

Arthur felt guilty.

After the incident in the cafeteria, Arthur's smile crumbled. At the last moment, when Alfred looked up at his face while holding the pieces of his precious bunny to his chest, Arthur felt a pang in his chest. He forced his smile at that moment, not wanting to feel the remorse making its way into his heart.

But it had.

And it hurt.

Arthur was staring blankly at his computer screen. He hadn't replied to hero's email ever since he got the reply saying to take his revenge, to avenge his cousin in the name of justice. But now…now he wasn't so sure his actions were just.

HEROsandwich had warned him. He warned him he would feel guilty, and now he did.

But it wasn't like he could go _telling_ someone how he felt. He had a reputation to keep. He couldn't feel sorry for Alfred; he had to maintain his pride. But perhaps there was someone he _could_ tell…

Arthur's hands quickly found themselves on his keyboard.

_I avenged my cousin. I went up to the bully and kicked dirt in his face. At first, I was so proud of myself. But then…my cousin asked me why I did that. When I told him, he gave me a funny look. _

_Then I realized that the bully was crying. _

…_and, I felt guilty._

_You warned me this would happen, and I wish I had actually adhered to your advice. _

_Now_ I'm_ the bully_

_-HomesickPirate_

Send.

* * *

Alfred read the email through carefully. He was glad the bully was punished. He deserved it for whatever he did to the pirate guy's cousin.

But he could also sympathize with the pirate guy. And he could sympathize with the bully now too. Alfred fisted his hair into his hands. He didn't know what to think anymore, about the pirate guy's situation or his own. His head had been a scrambled mess all weekend, and it didn't help that he realized it was _Matthew_ who accidently told Arthur about his pink bunny.

His brother had felt really guilty. Alfred, even though he was furious that Matt let something like that slip, couldn't find the energy to even glare at his brother. He just wanted someone to fix his bunny now. That was his main concern.

But it wasn't like _he_ knew how to sew. Nor did Matthew. Not even his mom knew how. So, the best he could do was scotch tape the head back on and pray that it would hold up until he could find someone who could really patch it up for him.

As of right now, though, he should distract himself. And what better way than by email?

_Sorry to hear that dude. Yeah, I warned you, but I don't want you feeling guilty now_

_I mean, yes, it's not right to kick dirt in some kid's face, but think about it. _

_He was a bully. Maybe he'll realize that his actions hurt others like your actions hurt him. Open his eyes, you know?_

_Well, at least that's what I think…_

_-HEROsandwich_

* * *

The next few days at school were tense. Arthur and Alfred avoided each other like the plague, averting eyes and about-facing when they saw each other in the halls. None of their friends brought up what had happened between the two, and they were glad for it. Neither of them was up for talking.

Kiku no longer sat next to Arthur during lunch. It was a lonely sight. Arthur ate the lunch he made for himself alone, barely tasting the food as it hit his tongue. He didn't need friends anyway. The closest thing he had to a friend now was the mystery emailer. As long as he had him, he was sure he could get through school…he hoped.

Lately, the two had emailed each other discussing deeper topics. What they felt justice really was, what they defined as bullying, what being guilty really meant. The conversations happened more frequently, and both would find themselves responding to emails either twice or thrice a day. But although they found comfort in the emails they sent, there was no comfort in the real world around them.

And like the hero that he was, Alfred could sense when someone was hurt. Kiku had started sitting at his table, and even though people constantly told Alfred that he couldn't read the atmosphere, he knew that Kiku's absence meant that Arthur had no one to sit next to anymore.

Alfred snuck a peak at the table where Arthur was sitting. He had what looked like a very burnt sandwich, which he was munching on quietly as he gazed down at the table. Feeling a bit of remorse at the poor guy's situation, Alfred excused himself from the table and approached Arthur.

"Can I sit here?" he asked the lone figure. Arthur looked up in shock, but nodded in response. Alfred quickly took a seat across from the boy, trying to ignore the stares at his back coming from his friends at his other table.

An awkward silence passed between the two for a few minutes. Arthur tried to continue to eat his sandwich, while Alfred pulled out one of the burgers he had gotten from the lunch line that day. When Arthur finished his sandwich, he twiddled his fingers and averted his gaze. Alfred was more…up front. He stared at Arthur, making the other boy extremely uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that Arthur was just about to excuse himself, when Alfred began to speak again.

"So…" he said, letting his voice trail off. Arthur finally looked him in the face, and now it was Alfred's turn to avoid eye contact.

Arthur answered with a small "yes?" and gave him a look asking if he would continue.

Alfred sighed, took off his glasses, and stared Arthur right in the eyes. "I'm sorry, dude. For laughing, I mean," he said. Blunt, and straight to the point. He wanted to get his point across clearly, and this was the only thing he could think of doing. His pride had already been wounded, and compared to last week's incident, apologizing was nothing.

With Alfred's glasses off, Arthur could get a true glimpse of his eyes. The bright blue that had once shown through had dulled. Red stained the whites of his eyes, most likely because he had been crying. Because Arthur had made him cry.

"I-I…I'm sorry, too…" Arthur said, avoiding Alfred's gaze once more. "I-It was wrong of me to do that to something so…precious…something that meant a lot to you…" He began to twiddle his fingers again, needing a distraction from the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Thanks…but it also wasn't right of me to, you know…laugh and stuff…that was pretty embarrassing for you…" Alfred said, giving a fake laugh at the end of his sentence while rubbing the back of his head. "I should've helped instead…what I did wasn't very heroic…"

"Y-yes, well…now that that's settled…" Arthur began, but found he couldn't finish. He honestly didn't know what to say at this point. He looked in Alfred's direction again to see the boy munching on his burger. "That really isn't a decent meal, you know," he said with almost motherly concern. "I see you eating those practically every day."

Alfred gave Arthur a confused, yet innocent, look. "But they taste good…"

Arthur scoffed at this. "They may taste good, but it's a poor excuse for a nutritious meal," he said, eying the burger with distaste.

Alfred said nothing in response, but continued to eat his "poor excuse" for a lunch. The conversation lapsed into an awkward silence once again. This time, Arthur decided to be the one to break it. "So…" he began, "did you ever, you know, fix your rabbit?" he asked warily.

"Oh, um…" Alfred said, caught off guard by the question, pink tinting his cheeks. "No…not yet…why?"

"W-well, it's just that, I can sew…so, I might, well, I could…um, you know…fix it for you…" he said disjointedly, his voice fading as his sentence ended. He wanted to look away, but found that he couldn't after the immediate change in the boy's eyes. Alfred's face lifted off from the table, his eyes gained back their bright blue, and his smile became natural.

"Really?!" he asked excitedly, immediately going for his knapsack and pulling out his bunny, scotch tape and all. He showed it to Arthur, who examined it in order to determine the damage.

"Well, it was a clean cut, so I should be able to sew it back up good as new," he said with a small smile, enjoying the other boy's happiness. "What's the bunny's name?"

Alfred was caught off guard once again. "O-oh, it's, um, Mr. Floppy…because he has floppy ears," he said, a blush evident on his face.

"Hmph," Arthur responded with a small smile. "And you said pink unicorns were cute." Alfred rolled his eyes at the comment, but there was amusement in his eyes as he did so. "Tell you what, Alfred," Arthur began. "Come over to my house after school. I'll repair Mr. Floppy and fix you up a decent meal. Sound good?"

Alfred's face brightened. "Yeah, totally!"

And the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

* * *

"Dude, I still can't believe you can sew," Alfred said while lounging on a chair in Arthur's kitchen, holding his precious bunny out before him. He had gone to Arthur's house after school and the guy had immediately taken out a needle and some thread and stitched Mr. Floppy up like new! It was almost comical the way Arthur sewed up his stuffed bunny. It was as if he had been sewing for years, which Alfred suspected he had. Maybe Englishmen were just weird like that…

"Yes, well, my mother taught me when I was just a boy," he said while opening the oven door to take a look at the chicken inside. A gust of smoke hit him in the face, like always. Almost ready.

"I'm telling you, dude, you have some talent, even if it's really meant for chicks," Alfred continued, smiling at the expression Arthur made after that. "You had this look of ultimate concentration. It was awesome!" he said with a laugh this time.

"W-well, just don't go telling everyone at school," Arthur said, grabbing oven mitts to prepare to take the chicken out of the oven. Alfred made a gesture of zipping his lips, which Arthur took to mean his secret was safe.

Arthur opened the oven door and took out the burnt chicken. He hoped that it wasn't too burnt that Alfred wouldn't taste the seasoning. He had put a lot of effort into this meal. "Peter!" he called out to his brother to signal that supper was ready.

"Not coming down! I don't want to be the witness in court for when you're charged with murder for killing our guest!" he shouted from upstairs in his room. Arthur's chicken could be the absolute worst. He felt really bad for the naïve guy downstairs.

"Insufferable git…" Arthur muttered to himself while grabbing the plates and silverware from the cabinet. Alfred warily eyed the food before him.

"Um, Arthur? Is it supposed to be this…black?" he asked tentatively.

"Of course! It said it right in the cook book."

"Right…" Alfred said, almost teasingly. Even though he had a lot more comments to offer, he decided he couldn't knock it till he tried it. He took a forkful into this mouth, hoping it would taste better than it looked.

He was dead wrong.

Alfred nearly choked on the food. He grabbed his drink and glugged down the entire glass of cola. Arthur looked at him expectantly, the smallest of smiles on his face as he awaited Alfred's verdict. Alfred was _going_ to be blunt and tell him it tasted like crap, but…

He just couldn't do it when Arthur's face looked like that. "I-it's really good! Well, I mean, it's burnt, but a good burnt, not a bad burnt!" he said awkwardly with a smile on his face. It appeared to work for Arthur, whose smile actually went from microscopic to visible.

"Yes, well, I _am_ quite good at preparing chicken…"

"Oh, this is chicken?"

"O-of course it's chicken, you wanker!" Arthur shouted. He wanted to be angrier, but found that when he yelled at Alfred, he didn't feel angry. It felt almost natural, like his shouting wasn't really meant to insult Alfred, but rather was just a routine part of their companionship.

If you could call it a companionship. Arthur wasn't sure who Alfred was to him. Were they friends now? Acquaintances?

It didn't matter for now.

"So, Arthur, you're from Europe, right?" Alfred asked, trying to strike up some sort of conversation.

"Yes, London, England to be precise," he answered, thinking back to his old home.

"Yeah, I could tell because of the accent and everything," Alfred said while trying to mutilate his chicken so it looked he ate it. "So, you like it in the states?"

"I suppose," Arthur said. "It's quite nice here. Of course, it's nothing compared to home," he added quickly. "My father goes on business quite often, so my little brother and I are always moving."

"Oh…" Alfred said, unsure of how to respond. It seemed like Arthur was sad about moving, so Alfred did what any hero would do. Cheer him up! Wrapping an arm around Arthur's shoulders, Alfred said with a bright smile, "Well, don't worry about it, dude! Hetalia High is your new home now!"

"G-get off me you git!" Arthur said while shoving the boy off him, a blush evident on his face. Alfred laughed at the spectacle.

And so, Alfred and Arthur continued their "fighting" all throughout dinner, and conversed until Alfred had to leave later that night.

It had been almost…comfortable. The tension from before was gone, replaced with a new kind of companionship they had found in each other. And needless to say, it was…nice.


	6. Chapter 6

**Connection**

**Chapter 6**

The next day, Alfred had invited Arthur over to sit at his lunch table. It had been awkward at first, but the Englishman found himself enjoying this new form of socializing. Arthur and Alfred continued to fight with each other and irritate the other to no end, but at the end of their arguments, there was never any anger directed at the other person. Only amusement on each of their parts.

Kiku had even begun to talk to Arthur again, for which he was immensely grateful. Unfortunately, Alfred had asked Kiku what "England" was in Japanese out of curiosity. He couldn't pronounce "Igirisu", so he settled for "Iggy", which apparently had become Arthur's new pet name, if you could call it that.

The email conversations had gotten lighter. Arthur and Alfred found themselves connecting to their mystery emailer more so than ever. Their happiness shown through and both became even more attached to sending and receiving emails every day.

School was comfortable now. Easy. The way things were going, Hetalia High would actually be survivable…

* * *

That was, until, elections came up.

Of course Arthur was going to run for Senior Class President. He ran in the elections every year, and always won, for that matter. But there was one problem this election.

The other candidate running was Alfred.

Arthur could hardly believe that git was running for the same position as he was. It was infuriating! Hadn't he been working as head of the student council ever since he transferred to this school? Hadn't he been the one to enforce school regulation better than anyone else, faculty included? And the worst part was, Arthur wouldn't have been so mad at the whole situation if it wasn't for the fact that Alfred was _winning_.

The day Arthur found out Alfred was running was the day he left the table. He began to eat his meals with Ivan now, no matter how scary the guy was. Ivan disliked Alfred very much, and was keen on helping Arthur win the election. Although conversation was awkward (well, at least for him it was), it was the only option Arthur had. Either that or he would be lonely again.

Alfred's natural enthusiasm won over the student body instantly. He had all the qualities a leader should have: charisma, determination, and a sense of justice for the people he governs. But the one thing Alfred lacked was what the school really needed: _knowledge_. And that was Arthur's only contribution to his own campaign.

All of his posters and slogans were centered around him being smarter than Alfred. It worked for a few students, but the overall population enjoyed Alfred's presence more. Ivan had tried scare tactics on poor, unsuspecting freshmen, but that only caused the teachers to become angry with him.

The very last part of the election was the debate. Arthur had been preparing for _weeks_, while Alfred had prepared for it just the day before. Or at least, that's how Arthur pictured it.

What Arthur didn't realize was that Alfred _had_ been preparing for this day for quite a while. These elections meant something to him. It was unfortunate that the elections caused a separation in his new found companionship with Arthur, but it was for a good cause.

Alfred had recently registered for a scholarship. The last requirement was that he had to have a leadership role in the school. Alfred's grades weren't good enough for a scholarship and he couldn't afford anything more than a low-budget community college with barely anything to offer him other than a liberal arts degree. Alfred wanted to go farther, wanted to prove his worth and become something more than his parents, who both were always out of a job because they had barely graduated high school.

Matthew was a shoe in for _his_ college of choice. His grades were amazing and his test scores nearly perfect. Alfred couldn't compete with that, never could compete with that. Matthew's good grades had always made him feel inferior because, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach the A's he strived for. Perhaps that's why he always sought attention. If he put the spotlight on himself, maybe no one would see who was the better twin…

Alfred put those depressing thoughts behind him. He glanced back down at his paper with the speech he would be giving written on it. When he had reached the middle portion, he heard a small cough in front of him.

Alfred looked up to find Arthur staring right at him. "Ready?" he asked icily. Alfred put on a frown as he set down his paper and stood up.

"Look, Iggy," he began angrily.

"It's _Arthur_,"

"_Arthur_, whatever. Just…" Alfred sighed. "May the best man win?" he asked while holding out his hand. Arthur refused to acknowledge it.

Instead, he said, "I will" and walked away.

* * *

_What do you do when a friend of yours…doesn't want to be friends anymore?_

_-HEROsandwich_

_Persist if you must. If they're that precious, you shouldn't let them go_

_-Homesick Pirate_

_What if you barely know them? What if you want to just…I don't know, get to know them more?_

_-HEROsandwich_

_Have you tried talking to them?_

_-HomesickPirate_

_Yeah, of course…but I think they're mad at me _

_-HEROsandwich_

_Maybe he's not worth fighting for_

_-Homesick Pirate_

_Doesn't feel that way_

_-HEROsandwich_

_Then I'm sure he'll come around. Have some confidence in yourself. You need to know that he feels the same way about your friendship. Rather than force him into a friendship, let him come to you. And if he never does, then he's missed out, don't you think?_

_-HomesickPirate_

_Yeah, thanks. I needed that. Have you ever been in a situation like this?_

_-HEROsandwich_

_Where my affections were scorned? Yes. But things work themselves out. Right now I'm just trying to battle my enemy. _

_-HomesickPirate_

_Enemy, huh? I don't like making enemies. They're too much of a hassle. Why make enemies when you can make friends? Even if you two don't like each other, you shouldn't waste your time over fighting. There's this guy I dislike. He's tall and cold and I'm pretty sure he's a psychotic murderer, so what do I do? Nothin'_

_I don't bother the guy, and he doesn't bother me_

_-HEROsandwich_

_And thank you, because I think I needed that_

_-HomesickPirate_

* * *

The debates had gone off well on both ends. Each made incredibly detailed, but entertaining, speeches regarding why they should be elected Senior Council President. The teachers were all impressed since the questions asked during the debates hadn't been too easy. Students from each grade were allowed to watch the debate in order to make a final assessment of who deserved to be the next head of Student Council.

And right now, Arthur had never felt more nervous in all his life. Everyone had cast their votes and in a few minutes, they would soon find out who had won the election. He desperately wanted to win. His record of winning every year would be completely tarnished. His entire future rode on this position!

And Alfred felt the same butterflies in his stomach as he eyed the speaker on the ceiling of his classroom. People had given him slaps on the back ever since his debate with Arthur, to which he would respond with a smile and a cocky laugh, confidence brimming through his features. Inside, however, he was just as nervous as Arthur. He bit his bottom lip in an act of anxiety. His friends were all surrounding him, Gilbert's hand clasped over his shoulder while Matthew was clinging to his other arm. Everyone was looking up at the loudspeaker in anticipation.

Crackling emitted from the speaker as the principle began to speak into his microphone. "And the winner for Senior Council President is…"

Alfred felt his friends' hands tightening around his body.

"Alfred F. Jones!"

A resounded "yes!" filled the room. All his classmates jumped for joy, enthusiastic and just filled with happiness. Alfred felt hands ruffling his hair, pats on the back, everyone in the room congratulating him on a job well done. He felt a bright smile edge its way onto his face. He closed his eyes and allowed the moment to sink in.

Arthur, on the other hand, had his head buried into his hands in frustration. His fingers curled tightly into his hair as he attempted to pull it out. No, he wasn't the Senior Council President. After all these years of winning election after election, he lost to some idiotic git who didn't deserve the title. It figured. Luck was never on his side in the first place.

He sighed to himself. He would at least become the Senior Council Vice President. He would be working next to Alfred for the duration of their senior year. They were still juniors, and the elections were held towards the end of the spring semester so that they could be fully prepared before senior year rolled around. However, they needed to start preparing _now_. Arthur would make sure to drive Alfred into the dust with tons of work. He wanted to make him regret becoming president, guilt be damned.

* * *

The ceremony for the Senior Council President induction was brief. Alfred was handed the badge from the old president to place over his heart so the whole school would know who he was. Arthur stood off to the side while on stage, trying to avoid notice while glaring daggers at Alfred's back.

When the ceremony ended, both boys descended the steps from the stage to the floor of the auditorium. Alfred looked over at the dejected boy, who was currently gathering up his papers in an attempt to distract himself. He could feel Alfred staring at his back, and he wanted nothing more than to leave the auditorium at once.

The sound of a door closing signaled that they were now the only persons let in the auditorium. Alfred sighed and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. The other boy immediately tensed and turned around.

Alfred removed his hand but continued to hold it out before him. Arthur stared at it for a moment, but clasped the hand in his own. They shook once. Arthur immediately wrenched his hand away and turned back around to his papers. Alfred tried to speak.

"So…I guess I'm President now, huh?" He smiled as he said this, an arm scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"I suppose."

Alfred had been hoping for a better response than that. "Maybe it'll be fun, you know?" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Perhaps."

These answers weren't satisfying the other boy at all. Alfred sighed again. There was no getting through to Arthur.

"Here."

Alfred's eyes widened as he saw a piece of paper being held out to him. It looked like it had been carelessly ripped from a piece of looseleaf. He took it into his own hands and sent a questioning look at Arthur's face.

"My email address," he stated curtly. "We'll need to contact each other over the summer so we can prepare." Arthur averted his gaze as he said this.

"O-oh!" Alfred said in realization. "Uh, thanks…"

The green-eyed boy grumbled something under his breath, but before Alfred could say anything more, Arthur had moved past him out of the room.

Alfred was now alone. Fingering the piece of paper, he opened it up to read the email address.

"HomesickPirate at aol. com"

…What?!

* * *

**A/N:** Much shorter than compared to my other chapters, but hopefully still entertaining nonetheless~


	7. Chapter 7

**Connection**

**Chapter 7**

Arthur had a giant headache when he went home that day. He sat in front of his computer trying to concentrate on homework rather than the turnout of the elections. He wanted nothing more than to sip some earl grey tea and read a good book to relax. However, that would require him to venture into the kitchen, which he didn't want to do in case Peter decided to rub his non-existent victory in his face.

He stared blankly at the computer screen, but his eyes just couldn't focus on any of the words. His eyes scanned the reply of HEROsandwich, but nothing seemed to register in his mind. It only caused him to let his thoughts wander. To let his mind delve into everything that had happened ever since he began emailing. And he came to a realization.

He was lonely.

He had absolutely no friends at school anymore. He hadn't even had many to begin with. And now…now Arthur was reduced to anonymously emailing someone he didn't know. But the thing was, he _could_ know them. He could find out who they were, if he only asked.

But that was a stupid idea. Once the student found out who he really was, just loser who didn't win the presidency and who wore pink unicorn underwear, they'd never want to speak with him again. And if he lost his mystery emailer, who else did he have?

And yet, was it better to just continue to email this person whom he had never met? Or perhaps he had met them, but they barely knew each other. Was it right to give up the opportunity at actually forming a bond? He had no one else now. He had no one to turn to, no one to confide in. All around him were the judgmental eyes of students, but this one person…if he could just find out who this one person was, maybe he wouldn't have to suffer through that.

Maybe school could be bearable again.

Hands shaking, Arthur typed up a response to the last email.

_I've been having…troubles at school lately. Lots of bad things have been happening, and I just don't feel like myself anymore sometimes. _

_I'm also quite lonely. _

_You were right about enemies. They're worthless to have because even if you make an enemy of one person, everyone else who knows that person will treat you poorly. And now I'm stuck between wanting to just get through the school year as fast as possible, friends or not, or actually trying to…form a bond with someone_

_These last few months emailing have been quite stress relieving. I've looked to my computer eagerly every day just to catch your reply. And now I want to try something different._

_I want to meet up. _

_If you don't want to, that's fine. But I'll be outside in the soccer field after school tomorrow. If you want to meet up, then perhaps you would be willing to meet me there. And if not, don't show up. _

_Simple, yes?_

_Just don't go running away once you find out who I am_

_-HomesickPirate_

* * *

When Alfred had gone home that day, his hands were shaking and his head full of confusing thoughts.

He couldn't believe that the person he had been emailing this entire time had been Arthur. _Arthur Kirkland_. Of all the people in the entire school, it had been Arthur who accidently emailed him. It had been Arthur who he confided his personal thoughts and home life. It had been Arthur who asked him about bullying, not because he had a poor cousin who was being bullied in school, but because it had been Alfred himself who laughed at his embarrassment in front of the entire gym class.

He was so confused.

Alfred gripped his hair tightly between his fingers as he sat on his bed. He wasn't sure what he could call his relationship with Arthur now. Were they friends? Enemies? Both? Neither?

He closed his eyes to try and concentrate more. Alfred had no idea what to do about his situation. He could tell Arthur the truth, but the guy would go ballistic on him…

And besides, he didn't exactly want Arthur knowing it was him either. He knew Arthur would be the kind of guy to get flustered over being found out, but the truth was, that Alfred would be just as, if not more, embarrassed than Arthur. He had revealed some pretty heavy things going on with his life. He spoke about his parents, who were always out of a job. He spoke about his feelings towards his brother. He spoke about his feelings regarding many topics he considered deep, such as bullying, justice, happiness, sadness, jealousy, anger…

Loneliness.

Friendship.

Companionship.

Love.

Alfred had discussed all these topics with Arthur. If Arthur found out that he felt certain ways about _anything_, he was sure something more hurtful than the pink bunny incident would take place. And he didn't want to be hurt like that again.

Yet…it wasn't fair to Arthur, was it? If they continued emailing, Alfred would have the knowledge of whose replies he was receiving, to whom he was responding to every night. And besides, Arthur was bound to find out his email address anyway.

Alfred slowly walked over to his brother's laptop and stared at the screen. He had gotten another email from Arthur. Clicking it open and reading its contents, his eyes widened in shock.

Arthur had asked _him_ to meet up.

That was the only part that took him off guard. Alfred knew immediately from the contents of the email that Arthur was talking about the election he had just gone through and perhaps even the underwear incident during soccer.

Alfred knew what he had to do.

_Yeah, sure we can meet up. See you tomorrow_

_-HEROsandwich_

* * *

Arthur kicked the football from leg to leg. He still refused to acknowledge it as a soccer ball. Americans and their daft ways…

Arthur was usually able to relax when he played football. Today, however, he had thousands of butterflies fluttering about in his stomach. His heart was beating frantically. Overall, he was anxious at the prospect of meeting his anonymous emailer. He didn't know what reaction to expect, nor what reaction they would expect of _him_.

And who would it be, anyway? What if it _was_ Kiku and he was just messing with his mind? Or what if it was that Matthew boy who no one knew? Or perhaps it was someone completely random, like Heracles or Gupta, whom he rarely ever spoke to?

None of these thoughts were very helpful at calming him down. Arthur just continued to kick the ball in the air in the hopes that, whoever showed up, they'd end up…as friends. Maybe even more.

Arthur caught a glimpse of a figure walking in the distance. That person was walking towards him! Heart beating furiously in his chest, he tried to calm his nerves with deep, even breaths. He concentrated more on the football, on kicking it rhythmically up into the air, going faster as each second passed.

"Oh, Iggy~"

Oh bloody hell. It was just Alfred.

"What do you want, you wanker? Can't you see I want to be alone right now?" he asked angrily to the blue-eyed boy. Alfred merely shrugged and smiled.

"I just…wanted to talk to you, you know? You're going to be my VP and all, so I figured we had to get to, I don't know, know each other better." Alfred let his head fall to one side, smiling innocently in the green-eyed boy's direction.

Arthur merely gave him a suspicious glare. "I see…" he said, the only thing he could think of as a response.

Alfred took this as his cue to continue. "So…look, dude. I'm sorry about the election and all…" he said sincerely. The soccer ball had been kicked too far and had landed softly in his direction. His feet began to work the ball as expertly as Arthur's had, bouncing it into the air using both his legs and his head.

"Is that so?" Arthur asked, his voice dripping with malice.

"But…it was important to me, you know?"

"Important to _you_?" Arthur asked suddenly, causing Alfred to lose his rhythm with the ball so that it landed on the ground ten feet away. "Do you have any idea what that position meant to me? I worked so hard for so many years just to become president, and you pulled the rug right out from beneath me!" Arthur couldn't believe Alfred was even _suggesting_ that being president was important to him. _Alfred_ hadn't focused on this one goal ever since the middle of freshman year. _Alfred_ had never tried to take on responsibilities meant for adults. _Alfred_ had never imagined what he would look like, standing at the head of the table with everyone focused on all his words.

No. Alfred hadn't done those things. Of course the idiotic boy wouldn't.

Alfred looked crestfallen at Arthur's response. He looked down and sighed. "Do you want to know the real reason I ran for president?" he asked quietly, so different from his normal behavior.

Arthur merely raised an eyebrow in response. Alfred continued.

"It's because…I entered for this scholarship. They said they'd pay for one year of my tuition in college if I got a top leadership position in school…I…I can't really afford college…so I needed this." At this last statement, Alfred looked up to test Arthur's reaction to this bit of news. His blue eyes met green ones, and for an instant, there was mutual sympathy on both sides.

Arthur tore his eyes away first. He had nothing to say anymore. "Just leave…" he barely whispered, turning his head toward the ground as he walked towards the abandoned football. Alfred looked like he was about to turn away when his eyes widened.

"O-oh, um…" he said nervously. "I w-wanted to give you my email address…you know, so we can contact each other over the summer and everything…" he said while fidgeting with a paper between his fingers. Arthur found his behavior to be suspicious now. He could never read that boy sometimes.

Arthur held out his hands to receive the paper, which Alfred shakily placed into his palm. Arthur gave him a questioning look, but then looked down to the crumpled paper in the middle of his hand. He smoothed it out and turned it over to read.

"HEROsandwich at aol. com"

Arthur's eyes widened immediately. "No…" he said while shaky his head, his heart beginning to beat quickly like it had before. "No…" he whispered again, a bit louder this time. His mouth was opening in shock, unable to find words to fit the situation.

His head snapped up to find Alfred staring at him, pink tinting his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head. "F-funny story, Iggy…"

"Don't call me that!" Arthur shouted, enraged beyond belief. "I can't believe you! _You_ were the anonymous emailer?! What game did you think you were getting at, huh?!"

Alfred held his hands up before him. "N-no, it was nothing like that, I-I only found out yesterday, and-"

"And what? Came here to gloat about it in my face?! Did you think this was funny?! Playing around with my emotions like some dumb-"

"N-no, of course not!"

Arthur was visibly shaking at this point. His cheeks burned with the indignation of the situation. It had been Alfred. _Alfred F. Jones_. It was Alfred who had read all those emails where he poured out his thoughts and emotions. It was Alfred who now knew that cousin thing was a lie to cover up his embarrassing underwear incident. It was Alfred who now knew more secrets than anyone else that he could use to hurt him.

Arthur wasn't having it. He turned around immediately and attempted to storm off, attempted to muster what little dignity and pride he still had left after such an event.

"W-wait, Arthur, c'mon, don't go!" Alfred shouted after him. He began to run in the Englishman's direction, grabbing a hold of his shoulder and forcing the other boy to spin around.

Arthur tried to shove him off. "Get off me, you wanker!" he said, eyes beginning to burn with yet another onslaught of tears.

"Please, Arthur, hear me out…" Alfred pleaded, trying his best not to upset the other man any further. When Arthur looked like he would listen, Alfred continued. "I don't want us to stop emailing…" he said in barely a whisper.

Arthur looked skeptical and mocking. "And why is _that_?" he asked.

"Because…because I _liked_ getting those emails. I _liked_ sharing things about myself and I liked it when you shared things about _yourself_. I'm always going on about sports or school or stupid things like that…with you…I just…I don't need to talk about that stuff, you know? I can be honest…and…and I liked it when you were honest with me, too…" Alfred was staring at his feet now, finding them immensely more interesting than anything else at the moment.

Arthur didn't know what to say. He didn't want to see this boy's face ever again, as long as he lived. And yet…he was still very lonely.

When nothing but silence followed, Alfred continued. "I just…I need some consistency in my life. You of all people should know what it's like to have a hectic life, always moving because your dad's always working. My parents may not go on business trips, but Matt and I haven't exactly had the most stable life…you know?"

Arthur was now looking at his own feet. He wanted to say something, something to make the situation go away. He didn't know whether or not to offer comforting words.

It didn't matter. Arthur turned around once again and ran off.

* * *

**A/N:** So, next week shall be the last chapter and a few days after that shall be a small epilogue :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Connection**

**Chapter 8**

Weeks passed without either of them contacting one another. It was as if the emails had never existed, as if everything that had happened between them suddenly vanished into thin air.

Arthur spent his days relatively alone. He had even demoted himself to sitting next to his brother at times. He ate his lunches quickly and silently. He began to speak up less frequently in class, and never bothered to correct Alfred if he got an answer wrong.

Alfred spent his days alone in a sea of friends. No one knew what was wrong with him lately, and he couldn't tell them why. Each time someone tried to cheer him up, he would offer a weak smile at most.

This horrible routine lasted for quite a long time, until Alfred decided to break the ice.

_I know you don't want to see me ever again, but just please hear me out. _

_Can we pretend we never found out who each other were? Like we still don't know each other now? Can't we keep emailing like that?_

_I liked getting to know you, Iggy. The real you. You always put on this persona of anger, but deep down…I think you're just really sad. You're sad and lonely, and always scared of what people think about you. _

_So you know what? Pretend I'm not a person. Pretend you don't know me, and I'll do the same for you. _

_Just please, keep emailing_

_-HEROsandwich_

* * *

Arthur read and reread the email. _"Pretend we never found out who each other were?"_

His mind was confused as whether or not to actually respond. On one hand, he didn't want to email back because he was afraid that, now that Alfred knew who he was, he would laugh in his face at his emails if he wrote something personal. On the other hand, he was still lonely. He still had no friends in school anymore, and he still needed companionship.

But he was just so _scared_. Arthur usually never feared anything. He was brave in the face of adversaries, stern in the face of the foolish, courageous in the face of opposition…He had always been prepared whenever it came to difficult tasks…but he just hadn't been prepared for this. He didn't think _anyone_ could have prepared themselves for this.

Arthur sighed while staring at his computer screen.

…_Ok_

_We'll pretend this never happened._

_For now, I suppose I should just write how my day went, then…_

_I ate alone again at lunch. People don't really seem to want to sit with me, and I don't know why_

_Or maybe I do, and there's just nothing I can do about it_

_I don't know anymore_

_What do you think?_

_-HomesickPirate_

'No, no, that's stupid!' Arthur thought to himself as he reread his email. He immediately deleted the message. There was no way he was going to email Alfred _that_.

Arthur tried to stand up and walk away, to ignore the email for now and never look back on that email address again…but…

The email screamed loneliness from Alfred's side as well. Apparently, out of all his friends, there wasn't a single person who really _knew_ Alfred, or at least that's what Arthur could deduce. Sighing, he typed up another email.

_Meet me by the benches in the park near our school grounds_

_-HomesickPirate_

* * *

The truth was, Arthur didn't want to let Alfred go. He had already let go once, during the election, and the aftermath had been so miserable and _continued_ to be miserable. He wanted something more…more than just a dumb email every now and again. He wanted to speak to a person, a real human being once in a while. And as of right now, Alfred was the only human available. Alfred was, perhaps, the only human he actually _wanted_ to talk to.

Alfred was already sitting on the bench when he got there. Taking in a few deep breaths, Arthur went to sit down beside him.

Both boys stared straight ahead. Neither wanted to be the first to speak…and yet both had so much to say. Alfred was sitting to Arthur's left, trying his hardest to stop his eyes from wandering to his face during those tense few minutes.

"Look, Arthur, I-"

"Alfred, I just-"

Both boys had started at the same time. Alfred, used to talking often, beat Arthur to speaking a second time. "Uh, you go first."

"M-me? A-and why should I go first, you twit?" Arthur asked with a complete lack of energy behind his words. It had almost come out as an angry whisper.

"Because you were the one who invited me here…" Alfred said, glad he had that bit of logic to add to the conversation.

Arthur looked down at his lap. He rested his hands to his sides and began to speak again. "F-fine…" he whispered. " I just…I just don't want our…'companionship' to end up this way…I don't want us to pretend as if _nothing_ happened between us…" Arthur could feel Alfred shifting closer as he said this, most likely to try to hear what he was saying since he was speaking in such a low voice.

Arthur turned his head away from Alfred's face as he continued. "I just…I want to be…I don't want to email you and get a response from my computer screen…I want…I want to talk with you, in _real_ life…not using just some impersonal device until school ends for us…" Arthur felt himself inching closer to the other boy as well.

"W-well, maybe it doesn't have to be like that…" Alfred said, the fingers of his right hand ghosting over Arthur's left. Slowly, but surely, Alfred placed his hand atop of Arthur's. There was a pause at first. However, the two eventually allowed the warmth of their bodies to be shared as they carefully grasped each other's hands. It was a shy movement on both their parts, but since both boys were unused to readily sharing their emotions, it was understandable.

Arthur could feel his face redden as his hand clasped Alfred's. He was still looking in the opposite direction when he felt Alfred's other hand gently coax his chin to face the other way. Arthur was looking straight into Alfred's eyes now, the blue eyes that reminded him so much of the sky. He felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest and he was unsure of what to do next, of what would happen next.

Alfred seemed to know what he himself wanted to do. He neared his face towards Arthur's, letting his lips ghost over the other's. Closing his eyes, he bridged the gap between their faces and gave a small, hesitant kiss.

Neither teenager broke the kiss. They stayed connected at the lips for a few seconds before Arthur decided to move his lips against Alfred's. The movements were slow and careful, and yet both could feel new emotions surge up in their bodies as the kiss grew.

Alfred found himself lost in the kiss, a smile forming on his face as his lips moved against Arthur's. He had kissed other people before, of course. But not once did it feel like this. Not once did it feel so _right_, so absolutely right to be connected to this one person. The hand he had used to coax the other's face toward him found Arthur's cheek, which he cupped so he could deepen the embrace.

Arthur raised the hand that wasn't clasped on the bench to touch the hand Alfred had placed on his cheek. It was almost too cheesy a moment, too cheesy a movement on Alfred's part, but it felt _right_. Like it was supposed to happen this way.

The two broke off their kiss after a minute or two. They let their foreheads stay connected as they looked into each other's eyes. They were breathing openly through their mouths, trying to catch the breath they had lost during those few, intense moments.

Alfred had a smile on his face. Arthur couldn't help but give a small smile in response, knowing full well that his face probably looked like a flushed mess, but not caring in the slightest. Alfred, upon seeing an actual smile from Arthur, allowed his grin to grow. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the other boy's hand. He was also the first to speak.

"So…I guess we're…companions?"

"If you want to call it that…then yes."

"Maybe I should call you _lover…_"

"And you're a bloody git…"

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**A/N:** Last chapter :) An epilogue will be up on Monday. I really hope you all enjoyed the fic and liked the ending (e-even though I'm scared that some of you won't...I need to have more confidence ^^;)

Thank you all for reading~


	9. Epilogue

**Connection**

**Epilogue**

Alfred and I were able to carry out a stable relationship all throughout high school. We had our fights, sure, but it was rather enjoyable getting to work with him and be with him every day in the council.

Alfred ended up receiving that scholarship of his and now attends the same university as his brother Matthew. I, on the other hand, decided to go back to England. I missed it here, and no one was more aware of that fact than Alfred. Although he was upset I was leaving, he accepted it.

A long distance relationship isn't much of problem on our part. We email practically every day. The conversations became more open. I'll still throw an insult at him every chance I get, but the bloody git always translates it to mean "I love you" or something.

As for now, I'm very busy and need to do something. If you'll excuse me.

_Dear Alfred,_

_I swear if you don't lay off those burgers by the time I come to visit next week on holiday, I'll cook that chicken you "like" so much_

_And yes, a new knitted vest would be a nice gift for Christmas, thank you for asking…unless you were being sarcastic…Were you being sarcastic??_

_Well, I suppose I'll see your idiotic face next week. Until then_

_Love, _

_Arthur_

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**A/N: **Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!! I'm so glad you all enjoyed this fic, it really means quite a lot :) This epilogue is very small, which is why I posted it in just a few days (it's 2 am, so this is technically Monday xD)

I never expected this fic to get so big, but I'm just really glad so many people enjoyed it :)


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